


Show Me More

by toast4toast



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Escorts, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Canonical? Character Ages, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Minimal canonical divergence, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV changes (only in bonus chapters), Pining, Slow Burn, Some Fluff, Some angst, Violence, klance, more characters and relationships to be added, stripper!Lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-04-17 03:40:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14179752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toast4toast/pseuds/toast4toast
Summary: In a place where Shiro's crime gang, V, runs rampant, Allura and her team are making attempts to track him down and put an end to his reign. After Sam and Matt are found, it becomes personal. With the help of Lance, and mostly Pidge, Allura tries to converse with one of the gang's top members without trusting him too much. Meanwhile, in his section of the city, Lotor aids Allura . . . in the ways that are best for his self-interest.“Why are we doing this again?”Shiro sighed, clapping a hand on Keith’s shoulder, “Keith, you know that this is important to me. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t.”“Yeah, I know that it’s just- It’s weird to go . . . you know, with your boss. That’s not something that normal people just do,” Keith said, silently pleading Shiro to let him skip out.“I don’t think so, we’re not normal. And, this’ll be good for you. You’ll actually find someone that’ll pay attention to you for once!”Keith scowled, crossed his arms, tucked his chin into his chest, and planted himself on the floor - or at least he wanted to. He actually just gave up and followed Shiro because he’s Shiro! No one disobeys the gang leader. That is, unless . . .





	1. Crude and Proud

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy! Welcome, all~ (ooph, ao3 quit out on me as I was trying to upload this the first time, I forgot what I was going to say! Oh no!) I have the first few chapters of this pre-written, but that won't stop me from continuing to write! I have loved coming up with this (I'll admit, kinda cliche) storyline so I hope you like it too! DO, please, be sure to leave any comments, questions, advice, hopes, theories, etc. I love to read them! THEY ARE FUELLLL
> 
> Coolio my beans
> 
> This first chapter has a scene - maaajor part - in a strip club, just so ya know! I'll leave little tips at the beginning of every chapter!

“Allura, here’s what we’ve gathered so far on Shirogane and his little posse. We have Keith Kogane - best described as Shiro’s right hand, but unlike it, Keith is actually human. Keith is 19, disowned by his parents, hothead, but sometimes reasonable. Easily influenced by emotion. Date of birth: October 23rd, black hair, dark blue/purple eyes. Shiro’s crew consists of three other prominent members as well as expendable henchmen. Kolivan, Rolo, and Slav are the ones we see the most of. We don’t know much about them, but that they’re lower-tier henchmen of sorts - all excluding Slav. He’s the genius behind all of their plans. Then there’s him, of course, big, strong, handsome, and semi-bionic. Takashi Shirogane, age 28, date of birth: February 29th, he’s seven if you count by leap years, black hair, grey eyes.”

“Yes, yes. All of that is standard information. Pidge, is any of that going to actually help us catch him? No, no, I didn’t think so. We need to gather more information on our suspect before he does more harm. Only two people that have been declared missing because of him have been found so far, but I believe you understand the situation quite clearly.”

“Allura, I’d appreciate if you’d stop insinuating that I don’t already fully know of the fact that Matt and my dad are linked to him. All that matters is that they’re back and that we’re going to find this fucking creep if it kills us - and you know I mean that literally.”

Pidge stood from her place across from Allura before grabbing the stack of papers in front of her. Allura opened her mouth briefly to say something but was quickly silenced by the flurry of action that came through the door.

“ . . . and that’s why cows can still live in space even though- oh, hey, Allura. Didn’t expect to see-”

“-me here, even though it’s my office, Lance? And my sector of this building? And you’re both my employees? Hunk, please do not engage in conversations of outside affairs on company ground. It’s unprofessional. Also, Lance-”

“Ye~s?” Lance interjected, batting his eyelashes playfully.

“Get out. At the moment, Miss Holt and I were discussing very important information for a case we’re-”

“Yeah, cut the chit-chat, I get it. Same old story, huh? I’m not ‘allowed’ here and you’ll ‘kick me out’ if I stay? Am I right? Come on you gotta tell me.” Lance was very partial to air quotes.

“Hunk, please escort Lance back to his cube.”

“Ha, get it, escort? Because he’s-” Hunk began.

“Hunk!” Lance hissed, backhanding his friend’s arm.

“How could you possibly hold another job along with this one? Especially one so demanding? Lance, I really need you to be able to focus on your research. If you have other events on your mind your work will reflect that poorly.”

“Yeah, Allura, I know. It's just, what we do here is heavy stuff, you know? Sometimes I like to take breaks.”

Meanwhile, Pidge is laughing maniacally behind Allura. “Wait, whoa whoa whoa whoa, hold up what did you say Lance was? I mean, I think we all thought something along the lines of this from the beginning, but I mean it just doesn’t make sense for his lifestyle, how could Lance live without having someone to be emotionally attached to for long periods of time, unless he’s- nooo, do you really . . . for money?-”

“Pidge!” Lance yelled, eyes wide, hands outstretched.

“Also, why did Hunk know and I didn’t? I just think it’s funny how . . .”

Meanwhile, Allura began to formulate a plan. She knew Shiro’s pattern. She could pretty much think the way he did by that time, she’d been on the case for so long. “Stop,” She simply said. “Lance, where else do you work?”

“What I do with my nights is none of your-”

“No, this is for the case. Where do you work?”

 

-

 

“Is this really necessary? I don't know if I can do this knowing that I matter in your case now,” Lance scuffed his shoe against the wet pavement, adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

“Lance, Shiro doesn’t have any idea of your affiliation with our organization. Even if you are just a researcher. If or when he sees you it won’t be an instant red flag. Getting you near him is just the first step. This is the hard part, you need to find a way to get him to like you. I don’t care how you do it, but I know that your area of expertise is . . . interesting. I’m sorry I have to put you through this, being a minor and all, but you know that the adults of our society at the moment are almost non-existent and even if they were around, we wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

“Allura, just say that I need to convince him to request a dance with me. It’s not like he’s the top gang leader around here or anything. It should be ea~sy, you know? Just like . . . what’s easy . . .”

“Lance, focus. I promise it won’t be that difficult. He comes here every weekend.”

“Okay, ew that you know that, but he’ll know that I’m new to dancing for men! They always know when someone’s new!”

“I have to go. Just do your thing. Good luck, don’t fail.”

Great, that really helps, Lance thought as he entered the windowless building.

Immediately stopped by the bouncer, Lance had to insist that he was trying to get to the side entrance so he could start his shift. He looked around a little after entering, making sure to scout out any exits or areas to hide in. Come on, man, you’ve done this a million times before. This is nothing. Lance made sure to get himself into a confident mood prior to introducing himself to the other employees.

After being introduced to a handful of the men’s dancers, Lance was led to the manager, a tall, skinny girl with long blonde hair.

“Hey Blue,” Nyma said, holding out a very large hand compared to the rest of her body. “what brings you here on a weekday?”

“Yeah, actually I wanted to ask if I could switch back to dancing for men for a bit.”

“Really? You know that we still have the same frequents? Do you want to change your nickname? It might help with business, especially with the men.”

“How’s Sharp Shooter?” Kinda has a sexy ring to it, right? Lance thought.

“Too long.”

Damn, okay. “Blue is fine,” Lance finalized. It sounded cool, it was sexy, everything that his stage presence would need.

“Great, next, you’ll need to decide who you’ll cater to specifically.”

“Just men, I don’t care what jobs, as long as they’re clean.” He’d been through this routine a few times. Finding a good place to work that supports you as an employee was about as difficult as finding a dry rock in a downpour. It was always good to get your conditions out upfront before a manager could trap you in something you didn’t agree to.

“Alright, Blue. This month you’re working men, but this month only! We’ll need you back to swooning the ladies as soon as possible. We’ve only got a small crew of male for male dancers, so paint yourself nicely - the audience will be able to tell.” They always know!

Nyma snapped her fingers and a shorter female with cropped brown hair stepped forward, Olia. “Miss?” She asked. Her voice was very clear, but she looked like she wanted to tell her something.

“Lead Blue here to the men’s dressing room - give him the ropes.”

“Miss,” Olia nodded,  whispering something to Nyma before jerking her head in the way they were going. Nyma’s face twisted into a scowl after hearing what she had to say, she then started off into an opposite direction. Olia stopped at a door labeled ‘2’, clasped her hands behind her back and said only two words, “rough night.”

Before Lance had a chance to ask any questions, she knocked once on the door. It swung open with enough force to knock a small child halfway to Tuesday and displayed a more than enthusiastic half-naked man on the other side. “This guy doesn’t have a name, he’s kind of just here.” She left after that.

Lance, once again, was led somewhere. This time, it was his locker. The nameless naked dude bowed with a flourish before leaving Lance alone. He looked at his familiar name tag, moved from its place in the women’s wing. On what looked to be a scrap of printer paper was ‘BLUE’ in bold orange highlighter. Okay, how? Geez, these people never cease to amaze me. Lance took his duffel and set it on the bench behind him. He slowly unzipped it, mentally preparing himself for the night. Lance was totally fine with this, it was something he did semi-frequently after all, but knowing that this part of Allura’s case was completely resting on his shoulders made it so much more complicated.

Lance stripped down, making sure to fold his clothes after taking them off. He’d decided on a blue lingerie set to show himself off for his first night. He remembered how popular this getup was with the ladies. In total, he wore a dark blue lace garter that clipped to sheer black thigh highs with little matching blue bows. He decided not to wear shoes, and elected for a blue bandana that he’d tied around his head like a bonnet.

After Lance got dressed, be heard a quiet knock at the door, “Blue is up, head to men’s stage. The song is I Touch Myself. Come on.”

Classic song. That’s going to be easy. Lance finished up in the dressing room then followed the instructions. The naked guy had given him a robe before leaving, so he wore that to the stage. Maybe he should have kept it for himself. . .

Lance checked in with the personnel waiting backstage and listened for the beginning of the song along with the DJ’s announcement.

“Today, Gentlemen, I’ve got a treat for you! We’ve got a new recruit tonight, and he’s even wrapped up with two little bows! Gentlemen, please welcome Blue to the stage. He’s dancing to I Touch Myself by Divinyls. Do enjoy~” Christ, word spreads like wildfire here.

Lance’s stomach swelled as he heard the quiet roar of the audience. There aren’t many people, I’ll just have to stay loose and look comfortable like always. This is a very easy song to dance to, I’ll be fine. 

Lance stepped out onto the floor with the soft guitar beginning, he didn’t move too fast and made it look like he was very lazily draping himself over the pole at center stage. He picked an especially nervous-looking guy from the crowd and played to him. The man immediately blushed before he was bumped by his friend sitting next to him. Lance couldn’t see the friend because of how the lights were positioned. Only the center was illuminated.

Just then, Lance was in the middle of doing a spin, but the friend leaned over and whispered something to the man.

As the song was ending, Lance stuck in a few impressive moves on the pole to get the crowd riled up. He slid to the ground and instead of getting up, Lance slowly prowled off stage.

Once behind the curtain, Olia went up to him again, “you have a request.”


	2. Your Body's Borders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets Lance. He does not look forward to their interaction, but Lance is forced to even though he shares the same feeling. After their encounter, they both leave bewildered and unsure of what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! This story should have weekly updates, and I'll notify if that changes. This is for sure one of my favorite chapters so far, and I hope you share the same feeling! As usual, please leave questions, comments, etc. in the comments below! I love reading what you have to say :)
> 
> In this chapter, look out for a slightly awkward sexual encounter.

“Why are we doing this again?”

Shiro sighed, clapping a hand on Keith’s shoulder, “Keith, you know that this is important to me. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t.”

“Yeah, I know that it’s just- It’s weird to go . . . _  you know _ , with your boss. That’s not something that normal people just  _ do _ ,” Keith said, silently pleading Shiro to let him skip out.

“I don’t think so, we’re not normal. And, this’ll be good for you. You’ll actually find someone that’ll pay attention to you for once!”

Keith scowled, crossed his arms, tucked his chin into his chest, and planted himself on the floor - or at least he wanted to. He actually just gave up and followed Shiro because he’s Shiro! No one disobeys the gang leader. That is, unless . . . no, he couldn’t think of anyone. Shiro does what Shiro wants.

“Earth to Keith? You there, buddy? Come on, get in the car, it’s raining now.” He had a point. It  _ was  _ raining.

“Fine.”

 

-

 

_ Why is Shiro taking me here? It’s not like this particular place has any real value.  _ “So, yeah. Why?”

“Keith, you’re doing that thing where you begin a sentence in your head again,” Shiro replied, running a hand through his hair and sighing.

“Oh, uh, right. Why does this place matter so much? What’s the point of bringing me?” Keith continued from his thoughts.

Shiro thought for a second before answering, “I’ve neglected to tell you for a while, but we use the Black Door as a sort of cover. The employees know we’re there, and are almost too cautious around us, but every once and a while . . . Anyway, Slav has informed me that today, specifically, there’s going to be a new recruit dancing. Like usual- oh, sorry. You wouldn’t know. Ahh, this place is rare and few in the district. Instead of displaying each sex worker, they’re sort of set up more like a traditional strip club? Except the majority of dancers take requests for sex - with a price, of course. The Black Door assigns nicknames to all their dancers to protect their identity so we won’t know his name but that-”

“I’m sorry,  _ his _ ?” Keith looked over at Shiro with wide eyes. “What the hell? Do you think this is some sort of game? Who gives a shit about your stupid meeting spot, I’m not watching some  _ stripper  _ just so you can get off on your sick fantasies!”

Shiro lowered his voice so the driver wouldn’t hear and placed a firm hand on Keith’s shoulder, “don’t you ever - not even for a second - think that what I’m doing is out of pleasure. I know that you know better than that. The purpose of talking to this young man is not to ‘ _ get off’  _ as you so eloquently put, but rather to extract information from him,  _ Keith _ .” Shiro sat back in his seat and took a breath, ignoring the half-scared, half-furious look on Keith’s face, “I’m simply taking you because you’re closer to his age. Also, who knows. You might hit it off.”

Keith slapped Shiro’s arm in an attempt to get him to stop making fun of him.

“Honestly! You might like him . . .

 

-

 

Shiro got out first, ignoring the driver’s protest, and walked over to get  Keith’s door. He pulled Keith close so he’d be under an umbrella Shiro produced from the trunk. Walking to the door was difficult because Keith kept trying to walk normally, but being right against Shiro wasn’t conducive to that.

Once at the door, Shiro briefly left the cover of the umbrella to chat with the bouncer. Keith only caught little snippets of their conversation, “Shiro . . . inside . . . meeting . . . Nyma knows . . . our business . . . thank you.” Keith wasn’t sure, but it seemed that the man was a bit more on edge than he was before they walked up.

“So, earlier, you said that we were going to get infor-” Keith began.

“Not here,” Shiro quickly said, shutting down any hopes of conversation.

Shiro led him past the bar and through a curtained off area to what looked like a hostess stand. He didn’t even let her greet them before springing into a simple statement, “my name is Shiro. Nyma is expecting us.”

The hostess stood a little straighter and hurried off, probably to find Nyma. A little while later, the blonde-haired woman appeared in front of them. The hostess was not behind her.

“What is it?” Nyma snapped. “I was talking with a dancer who switched. Which, I assume, is why you’re here. Don’t tell me you know his name already.”

Shiro chuckled, “we’re not there yet. You’d be right, though. We are here to see him. Are we on time?” Shiro crossed his arms and struck a casual pose whereas Keith stood a few paces behind him looking like a kid in a grocery store whose mom started talking to a friend.

“Sadly,” Nyma shook her head, “So, Blue just decided to dance for men, he normally just caters toward women. I don’t know if you cared, but yeah. By the way, why the new guy? You know I’d be more comfortable if Rolo was here.” When she didn’t get a response, she told them to follow her.

She led them down a short hallway and through another curtain. This brought them to a second bar area with a few couches and poles dotted throughout the space. A stage took up the backmost part of the room, with a few rows of chairs placed in front of it. A decently-sized DJ booth sat on the right wing of the stage.

“Kinda secretive, huh?” Keith murmured to Shiro.

“Kid, we’re in the Red Light District. Everything about us is secretive. If you really want to know, our male dancers are hard to come by - especially the good ones. We keep ‘em back here so they don’t get taken. That’s why I’m surprised you fellas asked to see the men’s section. This area is heavily guarded, why gangsters are here I have no clue . . .” Nyma said.

“What we decide to do with our time is for us to know. Please don’t try to judge us when you’re the one who owns this  _ establishment _ ,” Shiro scolded.

Keith lowered his voice, “Shiro, I know that what she said wasn’t called for, but you literally come here every weekend. I think  _ you’re  _ the one who should be embarrassed.”

Shiro shot him a death glare, signaling something worse to come for Keith, “ _ you  _ wanna talk about uncalled for? You see what it gets you.”

_ Shit.  _ Keith thought.  _ Why do I always do that? _

“Anyway,” Nyma began, “show starts soon, grab a seat if you don’t wanna miss it.”

Shiro grabbed her arm as she walked away, pulling her ear close to his mouth. He spoke loud enough for Keith to hear, “book a room with the new guy for my friend. Don’t worry, he’s  _ clean _ .”

Keith could feel the blood drain from his face as Shiro straightened himself and led him to a chair in the middle of the grouping.

“I need you to know that I’m not okay with this,” Keith said, clenching his jaw.

“It’s not about the sex. I don’t care who you fuck, or if you sleep with this guy for that matter, but just know that this is business. That’s so cliche, I know, but keep your head on straight, this dude has a connection with the Bureau, I’m sure of it. If he’s not, then have your fun. He’s 17, though I’ve not known you to shy away from something even if it was illegal . . .”

“Shiro, please, just- let me do what I need to. You can stop interfering with my personal life. That’s one thing you can’t control.”

“It is, but I won’t get into that. Look it’s starting,” Shiro pointed to the suddenly lit stage and leaned back as the DJ introduced the newcomer.

“Today, Gentlemen, I’ve got a treat for you! We’ve got a new recruit tonight, and he’s even wrapped up with two little bows! Gentlemen, please welcome Blue to the stage. He’s dancing to  _ I Touch Myself _  by Divinyls. Do enjoy~”

_ Oh God . . .  _ Keith thought, sinking down into his chair.

Shiro let out a little whoop as the man strode out onto the stage. He moved slowly, slinking around the pole to the music. Out of nowhere, ‘Blue’ locked eyes with Keith, making him blush slightly out of knowing what may happen to the dancer.  _ This guy’s only 17?! He’s so cocky. _

_ “Maybe you’ll  _ have  _ to fuck him later . . .”  _ Shiro whispered into his ear.

Keith recoiled in disgust at hearing someone so close to him suggest that.

Shiro hummed, “look, the song’s ending. Do remember to call for the driver. I don’t want you walking home from this place.” He got up and sauntered through the curtain, out of Keith’s view.

Blue ended the song by crawling off stage.  _ He’s new? If I leave now, Shiro won’t- yes he will. Damn it. _

Keith remained in his seat until that hostess lady from earlier walked up to him from behind the stage curtain, “go to room 118, he’ll be waiting, sir.”

“God- please don’t call me sir, I’m nin- not that old. Also, 118? There are that many rooms in this place?”

“Do you actually want to know?”

“Well, I don’t particularly mind letting ‘Blue’ wait, to be honest with you,” Keith grimaced.

“Okay, we have thirty rooms. Ten for the front, ten for the back ladies’ and ten for the back men's. Please, this way.”

Keith followed her back to the curtain where she came from and down quite a long hallway dotted with several doors. They arrived at 118 which, Keith hoped, jokingly had a sock on the doorknob.

The lady snorted and began to leave, “miss? May I ask your name?”

“You can ask.”

“Fine, who should I notify when I want to leave?” Keith retorted

“ _ You people-  _ Name’s Olia. Don’t use it around Nyma, will ya? She’s sensitive about that stuff.”

Keith knocked on the door twice then waited for footsteps.  _ I can’t believe- _

“Hello~?” A head popped out from the door. Keith met his gaze with an unenthusiastic glare.  _ What were the chances that this guy actually took requests? _

“Ah, come in! Can I get your jack-”

“I don’t want to waste your time. You can calm down because I’m not here for that.” Keith vaguely gestured in the direction of Blue’s crotch before continuing, “I need you to answer some questions honestly for me.”

“You come here, catch my attention, watch me dance, and get me all whipped up just to tell me to answer questions? Now, I don’t normally do this, but I’m afraid that you’re going to have to let me do what this room was built for before we get to any  _ talking  _ unless it’s my name in your mouth.” Blue took a step toward Keith, gently nudging him against the door. He craned his neck so their cheeks were touching before whispering, “I bet you’re even hotter when you come.”

Keith took a sharp breath in, turning his head away from Blue, “that’s not what I’m here for.”

“Your dick’s tellin’ me otherwise, my friend. I’ll only stop if you really want me to, I promise.”

With ‘I promise’ Blue’s voice slipped into a low tone and he began to kiss Keith’s neck.

Another sharp breath from Keith, this time no protest. A low rumble from Blue’s throat let butterflies loose in Keith’s chest.

“I’m- I have to ask- for Shir-” he tried between moans. His better judgement was just beginning to slip away from him when Blue suddenly halted.

“For Shiro?”


	3. Fibers in The Noose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets Keith for the first time, but not in the situation he'd like to meet him in. Lance, against his better wishes, has to keep up his facade for his job, leading to an interesting lead for Allura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! So glad that this fic is being accepted! I'm having a lot of fun writing it :) Alright, I'll just end this here.
> 
> Slightly sexual themes ahead.

“You have a request. Guy says he’s clean, closer to your age than most of our dancers are - even though you may say not close enough - and he’s cute. Black hair, brooding type. Let me know the outcome, huh? Little thing we do around here. Oh, yeah, 118. Just down that hallway, should be on your left,” She said before darting around the curtain and out of Lance’s sight.  

_ Oh God, I hate requests. I just have to pretend to be horny or whatever. I guess being younger makes that easier. . . _

Lance grabbed his robe, quickly tied it around himself and started off toward his room. Once there, he scoured the side table for various items, lube, butt plug, vibrator, tissues, and a sock? Oh, right, a sock. He ran over to the door and hung the sock on the doorknob, hoping that the man would get a kick out of it. 

He didn’t have to wait too long before he heard a knock at the door. 

“Hello~?”  _ Oh! He’s here! Damn, he  _ is  _ cute and he’s the nervous one from earlier. Oh, no. _

Usually, when people request a room, they show up looking at least pitifully turned on, but this guy just looked angry. 

“Ah, come in! Can I get your jack-” Lance began, stretching out an arm, automatically putting on a charming front.

“I don’t want to waste your time. You can calm down because I’m not here for that.” The man waved his hand toward Lance’s dick before continuing, “I need you to answer some questions honestly for me.” 

“You come here, catch my attention, watch me dance, and get me all whipped up just to tell me to answer questions? Now, I don’t normally do this, but I’m afraid that you’re going to have to let me do what this room was built for before we get to any  _ talking  _ unless it’s my name in your mouth.” Lance took a step forward, pinning the man against the door. He craned his neck so their cheeks were touching before whispering, “I bet you’re even hotter when you come.”

The man took in a sharp breath, turning away from Lance, “that’s not what I’m here for.”

Lance looked down, gathering the only evidence he needed to continue, “Your dick’s tellin’ me otherwise, my friend. I’ll only stop if you really want me to, I promise.”

With ‘I promise’ Lance intentionally made his voice sound tempting and he slowly began to kiss the man’s neck - a move that normally gets people melting in an instant. Another sharp breath from him, this time no protest. A low rumble erupted from Lance’s throat as he began to get a feel for his counterpart.

The man started to moan. Softly at first, making Lance want to rip everything off that stood between them before, “I’m- I have to ask- for Shir-”

Lance stopped.  _ Wait- Shit, this is my in. I have to- for Allura . . .  _ Yes! _ I’m not getting laid!! Wait, is that a good thing? _

“For Shiro?”

 

-

 

Lance cradled the man’s head between his hands, forcing him to look up at Lance. 

“Who are you?”

“I-”

“Stop, I don’t want to know. If I answer your questions do you still wanna have sex? Because I have some stuff to ask you too. I mean, I could always-”

“Please. Stop. I have three quest-  _ four  _ questions for you.”

“Okay, I can handle that,” Lance replied, walking over to the bed and sitting down, pulling his knees close to his chest. The man followed him over, dragging a chair in front of Lance. 

“First- I can- see, you know?” He gestured to Lance’s legs- no, nope, not his legs. 

“Yikes, sorry about that. I forget sometimes. Do you want me to cha- I can’t I don’t have clothes here. I’ll just, here,” Lance struggled with his thoughts, trying to figure out a way to improve the situation. He ended up just sitting on his feet. 

With a short breath, the man began, “what is your affiliation with the Bureau?”

“Well, you must know that by the way I don’t know who you are, I couldn't possibly have any ties with- what is it? The Bureau? Dude, that could be anything.”

He began typing on his phone before continuing, “Second, why do you work here and why did you switch specialties within the past seven days?”

“I love doing this. Not the whole escort thing really, but stripping. I only escort for those I think are actually worth it. Maybe I should up my policy because you managed to trick me.”

“And the second part?”

“Wow, you are really-”

“Please answer the question.”

“I choose not to provide my reasoning for the second part of your question.” 

He clenched his jaw, poignantly shooting a look at Lance while still looking at his phone.

“Third. How much do you know about Shiro? Be specific.”

“Uhh, well, he’s the leader of the largest gang probably within a 75-mile, or so, radius. He’s also got the smallest known group of people under his power. He . . . gosh, what is it, exploits people of intellect in order to obtain more knowledge of the city and how it runs? Is that it? What else, he . . . I don’t think I know much else. Like I said, I’m not assigned to his-”

“Last, have you been telling the truth while answering each and every one of these questions? If not, please elaborate.”

Lance raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, “why wouldn’t I be?”

He stood up, shoving his phone into his pocket, “thanks.”

“Wait, what about my questions? Or the sex, I don’t really care which. Only one benefits me, so . . .”

“You really don’t know anything about me, do you?”

“I know that you’re hot, and I like that. I also want to make you come, but you are vastly hindering that plan and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t.” 

Lance got off the bed and slowly approached the man, placing a hand on his chest. 

“If you don’t let me fuck you now, then I’ll be forced to ask you boring questions and try to convince you to come back tomorrow for another dance and request because,  _ damn _ .” Lance flicked his gaze up and down his body, taking in every curve and muscle. He slid his hands down to the man’s hips, gently pulling them closer to his own, swaying to inaudible music.

“What do you say, hmm?” They locked gazes for a brief moment before the man grabbed Lance’s head with his hands and pulled him into a kiss. 

Lance’s heart stopped for a moment,  _ shit I didn’t expect him to,  _ wow  _ he’s a good kisser.  _

_ “I’ll come back tomorrow, ask your questions,”  _ He murmured against Lance’s lips. 

Without moving, Lance obliged, “name, please I need to know what to scream tomorrow.”

“Can I give you an alias?”

“Just-” Lance leaned forward again, letting their lips meet before breaking away again

“How about Red to go with your Blue?”  _ That’s right, he doesn’t know my name. _

“What are you to Shiro, just so I don’t ruin anything between you two.”

Red snorted, leaning his forehead against Lance’s, “nothing, really. I guess you could say I’m his right hand? In a completely non-sexual way though!” He leaned back, putting his hands up to defend himself.

“Good. I want you all to myself,” Lance rumbled, moving in again.

“Come on, finish your questions, I want to go home.” Lance bit his lip, returning to his previous position.  _ This one’s a bit of a stretch.  _

“Can you introduce me to Shiro?”

That made him stop, “why? What do you need from him?” He was getting frantic, Lance could tell that he’d pushed too far

“Well,” Lance inhaled carefully, “I could be useful to you- him, rather.”  _ Shit, shit, shit _

“I’d have to check, but I think he’d be okay with it.”

Lance audibly exhaled, loud enough to make Red express a confused look.

“I was just worried, I didn’t know if I’d asked for too much. I don’t want to push you, unless-”

“Man, you are really horny, aren’t you?” He asked, “didn’t I say that I’d come back tomorrow?”

“I know, but tonight is now. But you’re uncomfortable, I can see that.” 

Lance moved to the door to the room, quickly opening it and pulling the sock from the doorknob. He threw it back into the side table drawers, along with the other various sex items.

“Wow, I just noticed those. Did you bring . . . them?”

Lance laughed, “no! They were here before I walked in! That’s too good, you should’ve seen the look on your face!  _ Did you bring . . . them?  _ HA!” His imitation earned him a scowl and a rather painful punch on the arm.

“So I guess I have to say goodbye now? Is that what this is?” Lance asked, letting his shoulders fall.

“I promise I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Maybe I should show you what’s in store if you do . . .” 

He sauntered over to Red, roughly pushing him against the wall and shoving his mouth against Red’s. The passionate display went on until they had to break to breathe properly. While Red was gasping for air, Lance went to work leaving little kisses down the side of his neck, particularly exploiting the soft area behind his ear which, he learned, yielded more of a response than other areas. 

“Goodbye, Red,” Lance whispered, pressing one last kiss against his lips before walking out the door and back to the dressing room, leaving the man a steamy wreck in the room.

 

-

 

_ That was probably the worst thing I could have done. I hope he doesn’t come back. I’ll just tell Allura that nothing came of tonight.  _ Lance thought as he changed back into his normal clothes. He continued to mentally scold himself until Olia from earlier walked into the dressing room.

“Jeez, knocking exists!” Lance shrieked, startled by her sudden appearance.

“Mhmm, anyway, how was he? I just saw him slip out the side exit, he was on the phone. I never knew someone could talk that fast . . . Well, he seemed super flustered, what’d you do to him?” She seemed eager for an answer, but Lance needed to get back to Allura. 

“Look, can I tell you tomorrow? I need to get home.”

She looked at him confused, “what do you mean, leave? You’re on the night shift, my dude. Dancers take requests until the zombie crowd leaves. It’s not even midnight yet, you’ll be here for another good eight hours, was it not like this before? Want me to set up a gig for you?”

Lance sucked on his teeth, nodding slowly. He let his bag fall from his shoulder as he numbly shifted through it for another outfit.

“Do I still have to take requests?” 


	4. Thank You For Your Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Sorry, I missed last week's upload, I was super busy and completely forgot to post this chapter!! 
> 
> Keep watch for abusive violence in this chapter - this is where that non-canon compliant stuff kinda comes in

“Goodbye, Red.” Blue kissed him one last time before slipping from the room. Keith placed his hands on his face, pulling them down before resting them below his chin.  _ Fuck.  _

 

-

 

A million thoughts raced through Keith’s mind, each at a million miles per hour, each one worse than the last. ‘ _ I can’t bring Shiro to him,’  _ Was one, ‘ _ why did I kiss him back?!’  _ Was another. Every possibility he could think of led to Blue being kidnapped by Shiro for a reason other than what was ‘normal’. 

He knew that Blue was an in to the Bureau, even if he didn't lie during the little interrogation, but he also knew that this meant they were on two sides of the same battle.  _ Fuck this  _ Romeo & Juliet  _ shit, I don’t like him. He coerced me into that. None of it was reciprocated and I am going to stand by that. Even if I did kiss him . . . _

Keith stood from his place on the ground, having not moved since Blue left. He started for the door, looking around to make sure he didn’t leave anything. He made sure he had his phone, then pulled it out to call the driver as he headed out to the front. 

_ “Gentlemen, after a brief rest, Blue will be out . . .” _

Keith heard the DJ calling from behind the curtain that led back to the men’s section. He paused for a second, looking around to see if there was any exit he could dart out of without having to go all the way back through the building. 

“Lost?” An annoyed voice called out from behind him. 

“Oh, Nyma. Yeah, where’s the exit?”

“Where’s your buddy? Then I’ll tell you.”

Keith rubbed the back of his neck, “Shiro left about an hour ago. I’ve . . . been around.”

She licked her top teeth, “follow this hallway, make a left, keep going until you see the bathrooms. There’s an exit right by them.” She then pushed past Keith and walked through the curtain just to his right. 

He turned back around and followed her instructions, all while quickly asking the driver to come pick him up. 

 

-

 

“Hey, thanks. Just back to the house is fine,” Keith said, sitting down in the back passenger seat.

“How’d it go?” The driver - wait, that’s Shiro - said.

“What are you doing here?!” Keith exclaimed, pushing both his hands into the seat to lean forward. 

“Figured it’d be easier for you to tell me now then evade me when you got home. Plus, this way I can actually get all of it given that I don’t actually have to stop unless I run out of gas or you spill what happened.” 

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, already regretting the events of the night. He decided that telling Shiro the bare minimum would be enough to get him off his back.

“We went in the room, he tried -  _ and failed  _ \- to seduce me, then we talked about my questions. He wanted to . . . suggest some things too.” Keith cleared his throat, somehow lying had an instant physical effect on him. 

“Hmm?” Shiro was interested. He raised an eyebrow, looking back at Keith through the rear-view mirror. 

“Yeah, well. He told me that he’s not from the Bureau, I think he's lying, he likes escor- that’s not important, uh- hmm, he knows just as much about you as every entry-level employee of the Bureau does - not surprising - and he kind of complied with all of my questions. He didn’t know who I was.”

Shiro scoffed, “you know that’s not what I wanted to know. Keith, I know I said that I took you there so we could have an in, but I expected you to at least have some fun with it! You’re too serious. I look back sometimes and wish I was a bit more adventurous when I was your age.”

“Nothing happened!” Keith snapped. “Don’t try and do that anymore, I’m not helpless, I know what I want! I hate that you treat me like a child.” 

Shiro sat up a little bit, sucking on his teeth. He redirected them so they weren’t just aimlessly driving. The rest of the ride went by in silence. 

After pulling into the garage, Shiro turned back, “what’d he ask you? You said he said something.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Keith grumbled, stepping out of the car.

“Don’t you think about going inside before you answer me, Keith.” Shiro was firm, enough so to make Keith flinch.

“You know what happens when people don’t listen to me. Don’t be like them. You also know that I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Oh my God! Will you stop acting like  _ you’re  _ the victim! I am sick of your shit! You always pretend that you’re the one who’s been wronged, but you just place these- these issues on yourself! If you’d just leave it alone you wouldn’t be some dense, self-entitled fu-”

Keith was cut short with a quick but effective slap to the face. Shiro used his prosthetic hand, so it was no surprise to him when Keith ended up on the concrete of the garage. 

Keith stared at the ground, so angry that his jaw hurt from clenching it, and his vision began to blur from tears of rage. 

“Get up.”

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do,” Keith snarled. 

“Fine, come in when you’re ready to stop acting like a child. We’ll talk then, so make sure you’re ready to comply when you do decide. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today.” 

Shiro began to leave. Before he could reach the door, Keith called out, “no.”

“Excuse me?” Shiro turned to look at the broken man who lay on the ground across the floor from him.

“I said, ‘no’”

“I know what you said, dipshit, I’m trying to understand where the hell you got the idea to talk back to me. Have you lost your mind? What did that fucking escort do to you? Don’t tell me he told you about the Bureau and you’re going behind my back.”

“This has nothing to do with him!” Keith screamed, tears slowly trailing down his face. “I’m tired of how you treat me! I shouldn’t be nervous to take off my shirt because of the bruises you give me. I don’t do anything wrong! You just take your anger out on me regardless. Half the time I don’t even know why you lead a gang, or why we follow you. What are you trying to gain? I don’t even know that! What's your motive?” 

Keith watched Shiro slowly walk toward him, never breaking eye contact. He watched as Shiro pulled back his arm, still with locked eyes. Then he was out. That’s the last thing he could remember. 

 

-

 

Keith woke up sore, cold, and hungry on the floor of the garage, small spatters of blood around him. He wiped his nose, grimacing at the trail it left behind on the back of his hand. He checked his phone, which was still in his pocket, for the time. 3 am. 

He rose to his feet, albeit slowly and painfully, and shuffled over to the door to the house. He quietly opened it and walked inside, avoiding a spot on the ground which he knew would creak. 

Walking over to the kitchen sink, he cleaned himself up with a damp paper towel. 

Once the blood was gone, he then went to his own room, thankful to have avoided anyone on the way there. He stripped out of the grimy clothes from the hours past and changed into dark grey joggers and a red tee. After quickly running a hand through his messy hair, Keith flopped into bed, falling asleep immediately.

 

-

 

An alarm went off somewhere in the house, signaling the time for their daily meeting.  _ Damn it, now I can’t sneak out. Everyone’s going to be up and around. I have to be careful.  _

As he heard footsteps coming closer to his door, Keith quickly rolled off his bed and under it so he wouldn’t be seen. His door was flung open, and someone - notably not Shiro - started looking around for him. 

“He’s not here, boss!” One of the nameless lackeys called out to the hallway. 

Keith heard murmured segments of a conversation in another room. They talked about how one of them would just call his phone to see if he was in the house. 

Trying to act quickly, Keith threw his phone across the room into the pile of dirty clothes from the night prior, hoping that it would look like he had forgotten it. 

A second later, his ringer went off, attracting the presence of the former lackey and most likely Shiro himself. 

“Must’ve forgot it, boss. Teenagers do that, right?”

“Mm, sure. Come with me. We’re going to. . .” Shiro’s voice faded as he walked back down the hall. 

He didn’t realise it, but Keith’d been holding his breath since they walked in the room. He made sure to breathe again in preparation for his escape. 

All while making sure to listen for incoming wanderers, Keith rolled from under his bed, scooped up his phone, and opened the window so he could slide down the roof under it and onto the lawn below. He did all of this all while not making a sound and staying out of sight of the windows. 

Once down, Keith thought about his options. There weren’t many places he could go. Six in the morning put him in an odd place. It was too early to do much, so Keith decided he’d try and see if that guy from last night was still working.

He started off in the direction of the Red Light District, knowing that it wouldn’t take long to get there. He crossed a few streets, watched a few couples flit by happily, then turned down the alley that would take him across town. 

It was a weird change of scenery. From the sun just beginning to rise out by the nice part of town, down to the alleys and backways that always looked dark and gross no matter what time it was. Even taking into consideration the red and purple neon lights that cast a hazy glow over everything, that didn’t change the fact that the sun hadn’t risen above the looming buildings yet.

He kept walking until he saw the black door that marked the iconic meeting spot for the two major gangs in the area. There was Shiro’s, and then there was Lotor’s. Shiro didn’t talk much about the other gang, but Keith knew that they had a strong affiliation with the Bureau. In a good way - that is. Shiro never let Keith know anything internal about V - what Shiro decided to call their gang - it was always point and shoot, no questions asked with him.

Keith walked up to the door and knocked twice, hoping that someone was still there. Who was he kidding, someone was always there. It was a strip club, not a bank.

The giant man from last night opened the door.

“Here to see Blue,” Keith said, keeping their interaction short. 

The bouncer looked him up and down before letting him in, “know where you’re headed?”

“Yup,” Keith replied hesitantly.

He walked past the bouncer and into the main section of the building. He navigated the winding hallways as he remembered doing a few hours earlier, only to run into Nyma a few minutes into wandering.

“Back already?” She asked before turning and walking away.

Keith followed her closely, somehow knowing she was trying to lead him somewhere.

“He’s in here, 118 again, don’t be too long. He’s worked all night and gets off in about an hour. Let the man rest some, yeah?” She showed genuine concern for Blue, making Keith feel a bit bad about coming so late into his shift.

“Of course.”


	5. Hold To Its Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance remembers the struggles of coming off of a shift, only to be met once again by Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing too awful happens in this chapter :D I think it's one of my favorites so far! Sorry for all of the teasing...
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> Hey Guys! I am so glad that people enjoy this fic. Please comment below if you think things should move faster, you want a certain thing to make an appearance, etc., etc. 
> 
> ANYWAY, have a great week my dudes!

“What time is it?” Lance asked, half not expecting an answer. 

“Only an hour to go, champ,” Olia said, coming up behind him and placing a careful hand on his back. “Oh, by the way, bouncer says your boy is back. Told me that he looked a bit roughed up, might wanna ask about that, huh? Anyway, I’ll go find him, you can either stay here and forget about him or you can head to room 112.”

“What happened to 118?” Lance replied jokingly, yawning halfway through.

“Taken. What’s your decision?” 

 

-

 

A few minutes later and Lance was in room 112.  _ What the hell, right?  _

He had neglected to change into any sort of lingerie because he didn’t think Red would care if he was in sweats and a tee. 

Lance sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked his shoes off, immediately pulling out his phone to check non-existent notifications. 

_ I forgot about this part,  _ Lance thought, setting his phone down beside him and resting his head on the heels of his hands.  _ The last hours of a shift are always the roughest.  _

Lance flinched when he heard three soft knocks at the door - different from how Red had introduced himself previously.

“It’s unlocked,” he said simply.

He returned his head to his hands, expecting Red to sit down next to him.

“So you’re McClain?” A deep voice startled him, making him jump to his feet. 

_ No, why are you here? Where’s Red? Why are you here?  _ Lance wanted to ask so many questions, confusing himself to the point where his mouth just hung open hopelessly.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ Care to come with me or would you like me to do this the hard way. Nyma still doesn’t know I’m here, so I’d like to keep it that way.”

“How do you know my name?” Lance settled on that question, hoping to get some response.

“My guy works fast. Now, easy, or difficult?” The man’s eyes darted up and down his body, landing on his hips where Lance’s blue shirt stayed bunched from sitting.

“Didn’t dress up for Keith, huh? What, is he just another client? Another wallet?”

“Who? I’m waiting for Red. I don’t know who that is. Is Red Keith? N-no, I-I didn’t think he’d ca- he was in sweats earlier- I- he’s not just a cl- I do like- I mean, I don’t  _ like-  _ you know? I just-”

“Shut up,” the man barked, taking a step closer to Lance.

“Where’s Red?”

“I said shut up!”

Two men entered the door behind him, each one taking a position behind a shoulder. 

“Why me? Don’t you usually go for the intelligence officer type people?” Lance grasped at straws.

“I have my reasons, now about getting out of here. Easy? Or Difficult?”

 

-

 

It was difficult. 100%. Not for Lance, just for them because he wouldn’t stop asking questions long enough for them to get him somewhere other than that room. ‘Who’s Keith?’ ‘Why me?’ ‘What’re you playing at?’ et cetera, etcetera. 

“So, what is your affiliation with the Bureau.”

“Do you know how many ‘Bureau’s exist in the world? There’s the desk, the FBI, several types of travel and news bureaus-”

“God, you’re annoying. Would you just answer the question?”

“What happened to Red? I was told that he’d be meeting me here. Olia even said that he looked beat up-”

“Answer the goddamn question, McClain. I know you know who I am, you should think about what you’re saying before you take a wrong turn.”

“Or I could just-” Lance cut himself short, screaming as loud as he possibly could in an attempt to draw the attention of anyone who might be nearby. 

Just as he began to hear hard footsteps pounding toward them, a heavy hand was swung against the side of Lance’s head. It wasn’t enough to knock him out, just incapacitate him for a bit.

“Shiro! Stop it, now. This is my establishment, you have no right to be harassing my employees during hours. You shouldn’t be here.” Nyma threw open the door, sternly walking up to the man, a small group of guards surrounding her. 

“McClain, you know the drill, I am sure you know what comes next,” Shiro snarled before composing himself. He insisted on walking out of the room on his own, shrugging whenever a guard placed hands on him.

“Lance!” Nyma said after Shiro’s posse left. “Holy hell, are you okay? What the fuck? How dare they! I can  _ not  _ believe they crept in here! Were you expecting Keith? Those absolute dickweeds. I am so, so, so sorry La-”

“Nyma, please. It’s not your fault. I know that things happen around here sometimes,” Lance insisted. He knew that Shiro and his gang were adamant when it came to getting what they wanted - which, come to think of it, he didn’t actually know yet.

Hurried knocking threw them out of their conversation, “Blue? Blue, are you alright? Blue?”

Nyma shot a knowing look Lance’s way, to which he responded with a subtle wave and a reassuring nod. 

She crossed to open the door, letting Red- Keith in. 

“Blue! Oh, God, I thought Shiro had- oh, hi, Nyma.”

“Boys,” she said, excusing herself.

“Holy shit, you sounded- oh, man.” Keith took in a large breath, supporting himself by leaning back into a wall, framing his face with his hands in exasperation.

“Dude, you were actually worried? Wait, how long have you been here? I thought I was going to meet  _ you.  _ Why weren’t you in this room?” 

“Wha- only just a bit, I was sent to 118 again. You weren’t there, I thought you were just getting ready or something. Oh, he went too far this time.” Keith let out a sigh, walking to join Lance on the bed next to him.

“This time? What, he has a history of- nevermind, forgot he’s a- yup, I need to go to bed, ugh.” Lance sat cross-legged, leaning to his left hand, elbow planted into his knee, as he dragged his eyelid back with a finger.

“Oh right, you’ve been here since last night. Here, do you want me to get you an Uber or something? I don’t think you should be walking anywhere with Shiro on your tail.”

“Don’t sympathize with me, you’re one of  _ his _ ,” Lance mumbled. He rolled his eyes slowly on ‘his’ emphasizing the matter of importance behind his words. 

“Hey, what happened to last night’s Blue? Remember, the guy who couldn’t wait to get in my pants? Where’s  _ he  _ at?”

“You should know that’s for show, but sorry. I’m just a bit ruffled right now, considering the fact that I literally just got jumped where I work! I am sorry that I’m not really focusing on you right now,  _ Keith _ , but you’re not high on my concerns right now, like, oh, hm, maybe  _ my safety?  _ Yeah, that’s kinda vital, right?” Lance instantly regretted saying that, quickly turning to apologize to the stunned man that sat next to him. 

“I didn’t mean to-”

“When’d you learn my name?” 

 

-

 

“Lance, I cannot guarantee your safety unless you are here at the office. I will send you a car immediately to ensure that you arrive without any problems. Stay there, do not leave, alright? I expect you to be there once the car arrives. It will be better if you leave as soon as it does so you do not look suspicious.” Lance had given Allura the rundown of what had just. . . went down. She didn’t take it too well.

“How far are we from the Bureau?” Keith asked, wandering aimlessly around the room.

“I don’t work for the- yes I do, that’s a lie. Anyway, why are you still here? If I were you, I’d have left already.” Lance remained on the bed, growing more tired by watching Keith walk circles.

“You didn’t answer my question, also, I am not leaving you here because I don’t want anything bad to happen to you again.”

“Well, great job doing that. You’re one of Shiro’s, though. I can’t trust you.”

“Hopefully not for long,” Keith mumbled, “but how much time to we have, seriously?”

“Around forty minutes, why?” Lance responded, looking up from his hands for a moment.

“Well, the whole reason I am here right now is that I wanted to take you up on your offer from last night. I think now would be a better time to-”

“Hold up- You actually came back? By yourself?  _ Because  _ you wanted to fuck me?”

“I don’t know if I’d use those words, but sure. Sue me.”

Lance paused, “still gonna pay me?”

“If I have to.”

“Come here,” Lance started, standing from the bed, “my name is Lance, stop calling me Blue.”

Keith walked over to him, getting fairly close, enough so that Lance’s breath ruffled Keith’s hair a bit. 

Lance gently held Keith’s head, slowly letting his eyes wander over his face, taking in Keith’s dark eyes and it’s troubled depths, noticing a few red lines under his right eye.

“Lance-” Keith whispered, closing his eyes and leaning into Lance’s touch. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Lance said, furrowing his eyebrows a little. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. He didn’t want to get involved with someone who had close ties to a known criminal, close to someone who was probably a criminal himself. 

Lance hesitated, still observing the expression on the face that was so close to his own. Things started to go blurry, Keith’s features were too near for Lance’s eyes to hold focus anymore. 

“‘Now’ has passed, I don’t know if you noticed, but you haven’t kissed me ye-” Keith began, only to be cut off by Lance pushing their mouths together.

Keith’s startled hands found their way up to Lance’s hair as Lance’s trained hands pulled Keith’s hips close to his own. 

_ Just a client, just a client, just a client.  _ Lance fought hard to dismiss the possibility that Keith was just using him to get close to the Bureau.  _ I’ve only known him for a day, after this, we’ll cut ties and I’ll never see him again.  _

“Something’s wrong,” Keith said, pushing away from Lance. “You’re not feeling this, are you? Nevermind, we can just talk-”

“No! I mean. . . no. I’d rather do this, I’m fine, really, just a little caught up in my own thoughts. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Lance clenched his jaw in between blurbs, trying to suppress his overthinking. 

“Man, calm down! I’m not going to let Shiro hurt you again!” Keith leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. “I don’t know what it is about you. . .”

“Yeah? Well, I’m sorry that. . . nevermind, it’s not important.” Lance became serious, putting aside the fact that a man less than an inch away from him was fully willing to rip all clothing between them off when Lance said the word.

“I’m sure,” Lance continued when Keith raised his right eyebrow slightly in confusion, “don’t worry about me.”

“You are all over the place,” Keith said with an utter mix of concern and surprise. 

Lance chuckled softly, rubbed his tired eyes, and kissed Keith softly on the lips.

“Maybe another time, buddy.” 

“Buddy? Really? I feel like these terms like ‘man,’ ‘dude,’ ‘buddy’ they just don’t suit this situation.”

Lance shot Keith a skeptical look.

“Yes, okay, I guess I’m guilty of that too but come on!”

“Keith? Buddy? My man? What do you want me to call you? Is pal an acceptable term of endear- uh, an acceptable term?”

Keith scrunched up his face in disgust, “no. What were you going to say? Term of endearment? That’s cute.” He started laughing nervously after finishing his thought. 

“Maybe we should both get some sleep? I think we’ve both been through some shit- oh! You never told me about you getting beat up! Dude- uhh, see I don’t know what to say now, but you’ve gotta tell me about it! Details~!”

“You don’t want to know, trust me.”

“Please?” Lance lowered the volume of his voice, batting his eyes playfully.

“See, that doesn’t make me want to talk with you, you know? It’s like you’re trying to mess with me.”

Lance smirked, raising his shoulders slightly. 

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you.”


	6. Damaged Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance get to know each other a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, to preface this chapter, I want to apologize for the short chapter. This one is just under 1500 words. This is because I was really busy this week and just ran out of pre-written content. Good news, though, this means that any input that you guys give me will show up faster! I promise that chapter seven will be longer.
> 
> There shouldn't be anything to worry about in this chapter warning-wise.

“...So after I rolled out from under my bed, I jumped out the window and came here. I guess they followed me. GPS or something- or I just wasn’t stealthy enough.”

Lance watched Keith’s movements softly as he explained what had happened. The little hand gestures he made when he was exasperated were just so cute- I mean.. ahem. 

Lance sniffed, rubbing the underside of his nose with the proximal section of his index finger.

Keith crossed his arms, staring at the ground with a mix of emotions. A recipe that Lance couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Hey, what’s up? That was dumb, I know what’s wrong. Earlier you said you didn’t want to be apart of Shiro’s team anymore-”

“No I-”

“Hey, you said ‘not for long,’ those were your words, not mine. What are you planning? Shouldn’t you be on his side?”

Keith sighed, pushing the hair that fell over his face back for a moment, holding his hand on top of his head before letting the fringe fall back again. 

Lance’s breath caught a little in his chest, fully aware that Keith is just. So. Pretty.

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

“No, keep going, I’m fine.” Lance’s voice kept the same volume and pitch through the whole sentence, trying not to physically freak out.

Keith chuckled before returning to his serious self. 

“I don’t- Are you sure you want to hear this?”

Lance paused, concerned to hear what Keith had to say, “of course, why wouldn’t I?”

_ “Well, I mean, we met last night…”  _ Keith mumbled into his hand. He sighed, confirming with Lance that he should continue before speaking again, “I don’t enjoy getting hit all the time for stupid things I do. Forgetting to take out the trash- that’s only on bad days, though, man, uhh, being late getting home, talking to one of the- nevermind about that last one. But you get the picture. It’s not fun having giant bruises all the time.”

Lance got closer to Keith, wordlessly placing his hands at Keith’s waist, slowly pulling his shirt up and over his head. Balling up the fabric, Lance took a step back, assessing the damage. 

Keith had a nebula of bruises running down his left side from the base of his arm to his hip. Some purple spread even over his ribs toward the center of his chest. Some of the bruising looked old, being a pale brown or soft green, but most looked fresh, displaying bright, violent purples and yellows. Little pinpricks of red dotted through some of the imperfections.

Keith made no attempt to hide, knowing that Lance wouldn’t let him anyway, not until he’d seen enough.

Lance looked back up at Keith’s face, cradling the sides of his jaw with gentle hands. He ran his thumb over the fading red lines under Keith’s eye that he noticed earlier. Lance wasn’t sure what he was doing with his own face, but he felt his eyebrows crease and his lip raise in a mix of concern and surprise. Keith noticed and turned his head away, just hoping for an out.

“This is not okay,” Lance whispered, mostly to himself.    
Keith could feel little tingles building in his nose as he fought the urge to spring into tears, instead, sniffing to relieve the sensation.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, It’s my turn to make sure you’re safe, now.” Lance dropped his hands to Keith’s waist, swaying to inaudible music. 

“You should come back to the office with me. That way I know you’ll be safe.” 

Keith looked up at Lance, studying the exhaustion becoming present under his eyes and in his overall expression.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea-”

Lance pulled Keith close, drawing him into a deep hug and cutting him off. 

“It’s the only place where you can protect yourself. Knowing Shiro and his tactics, he’d never storm a government facility- except that one time that he did to get to Sam and Matt, but he wouldn’t because it’s an investigative sector?” Lance’s tone of voice got more and more skeptical as he drove through his sentence, his pitch raising as he neared the end. 

“You know, that doesn’t sound like the best pep talk.”

“I know! Usually, I’m better at these, I don’t know what’s up lately.”

“Are you sure that’ll fly with your boss? Isn’t her life goal to shut Shiro down whenever given the chance? I’m sort of a window to that kind of thing,” Keith responded, leaning deeper into Lance’s grasp.

Lance thought for a second, picturing the conversation he’d have to have with Allura. There’d be a lot of time spent talking to a brick wall while it emanated hatred and seething rage.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Lance responded cheerfully.

“See that little pause there? That makes me think that it actually  _ won’t  _ be fine.”

“Ah-bah-bah- it’s fine.”

“Lance-”

“What were you talking about earlier? That whole ‘you walked here’ thing? What was that about?”

“You can’t just change the subject like that…” 

Lance had immediately shifted from just standing close to Keith to getting intentionally closer to get a reaction out of him.

“This is what you were talking about, right? Wanting to… spend  _ time  _ with me?”

“You are an evil, evil man!” Keith exclaimed, hitting Lance playfully and tripping back onto the bed.

Lance situated himself between Keith’s legs, planting his hands on either side of Keith’s head. 

“You’ve made it too easy for me! You even got on the bed…” A mischievous grin spread across Lance’s face.

“I’m serious! What if she has me arrested on the spot! I may be associated with Shiro, but I’ve never actually done anything illegal- that is unless you count the one time I accidentally stole a pack of gum from a dollar store, but I don’t think that really matters-”

“Keith,” Lance said simply, staring intently down at the man underneath him. 

“Why do you care so much about me? Like I said, we only met  _ last night _ .” 

Lance kept looking down, smiling softly at Keith’s curiosity.

“Honestly, you really shouldn’t like me-”

“Who said I liked you? You have a mullet!”

“Very funny. Anyway, I’m older than you. That usually isn’t a bad thing, but you’re… you’re seventeen.”

Lance stood from his place over Keith, “yeah, so? Pidge is sixteen, Hunk is eighteen, I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks. I don’t see the issue here.” Lance turned his back, heading to the window across the room, gazing out at the just rising sun. 

“Lance, I don’t know who those people are. Are they your friends? Co-workers? Wait… why are you all so young? You have- what is it, government level positions? How’d  _ that  _ happen?”

Lance ignored his questions, continuing to stare at the brightening city. A ring sounded out, making Keith flinch, not phasing Lance.

Lance reached for his phone where he left it on the side table. Passing Keith, he stole a glance down at his face. What looked up at him was a semi-concerned, semi-confused expression. Keith’s clenched jaw, raised brow, and drooping mouth made Lance want to redo everything he’d said up to this point.

He didn’t like arguments. They started for some one-sided reason and always made the situation worse than it had been before the fight. 

_ ‘Out front. Don’t keep him waiting. -A’ _

“Come on, we have to go. That is, if you still  _ want  _ to, Mr. ‘I’m older than you’.”

Lance headed for the door, not waiting for Keith. With a sigh, Keith stood, finding it difficult to just watch Lance leave.

Lance was walking slowly, obviously hoping that Keith would follow him. 

“I just meant that-”

“Keith, whatever you’re gonna say is just gonna make this worse. Let’s just get to the car. We can talk later when both of us have some time to cool off.”

Keith followed, his confusion furthering.  _ This is what he thinks a big fight is? ‘Cool off’? We barely said anything… _

  
  


-

 

“Hey, man! What’s u- who’s this ‘Lura said it’d just be you…?” Hunk said as Lance opened the passenger door. 

“Uhh, yeah, this is Keith. Don’t worry about it, alright? Allura’s fine with it.”

“M’kay, but, I really hope that you’ve thought this through. I mean, how often do you see Allura bringing in people from  _ her  _ missions, it just doesn’t seem right.  _ And  _ this is a company car! Lance, are you sure-”

“Hunk, please. I’ve had a long night, can we just go back to the office?”

Lance finished settling himself into the seat, briefly looking over his shoulder to make sure that Keith got in the back and had his seatbelt on. 

“Everyone in?” Hunk asked cheerfully.

“Hunk,” Lance said, annoyed. 

“Geez, someone seriously needs some coffee. Or that goop from the cafeteria. Or bo-”

“ _ Hunk _ ,” Lance stressed.

“Well this’ll be a quiet ride…”


	7. Used To Resentment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets Allura and has to adapt to a new living situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! As promised last week, this chapter is longer, counting in at around 2400 words! This chapter was super fun to write, so I hope you enjoy!

As expected, no one said a word the whole time it took to get to the Bureau. Lance couldn’t care less, he sort of enjoyed not having to think for a while. After everything the night had just brought him, the last thing he wanted to do was engage in needless conversation - especially since he knew what was coming his way from Allura.   
Keith, on the other hand, was extremely uncomfortable. He had become accustomed to silence equating to anger from the other parties in his presence. He wasn’t sure what the other two men in the car were thinking; that only made his imagination spiral deeper into ‘what if’s.   
Hunk was completely impartial, just happy to be listening to the Cleopatra album by the Lumineers. He loved singing along, adoring the feel-good vibes of even the saddest songs.   
The other two, although sharing different music tastes could appreciate what was subtly streaming through the speakers. Lance and Keith were pretty much stuck in their own thoughts, anyway, so there were no complaints.

-

The sun was almost done hugging the horizon as they pulled into the parking lot. Lance was the first to get out, walking over to Keith’s side on impulse to open the door for him.  
Although Keith was a little confused, he chalked the behavior to Lance just being tired and accepted the gesture.   
Hunk was the last to get out, wanting to finish up the last of Patience because ‘it’s just such a good song, guys!’ It wasn’t even that long, so the other two didn’t mind waiting for him.   
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Keith asked after a few moments of leaning against the car. Keith didn’t know much about the Lumineers, so he wanted to take some time to talk with Lance alone before Hunk joined them again.   
Lance took in a big sigh. All he wanted to do was take a long shower, forget the people who requested him and sleep for a day. He knew that wasn’t possible just yet, and he was beginning to grow irritated.   
Composing himself, he took a gentle approach to Keith’s question, “I don’t know, Keith. Keith.” He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose; eyebrows raised, and eyes lidded. “All I can say is that this’ll probably end badly. Just so you know, after we talk with her, she either won’t hate you - kind of unlikely, quite frankly - or she’ll kick you out immediately. Now, if she does the latter, we’ll convince her otherwise and you’ll have to stay with me for a little bit. If she does the former-”  
“I’ll have to what?”  
“Just-” Lance held his hands up in a careful shrug before continuing. “If she does the former, she will probably ask you too many questions. Answer at your discretion and stop her if you feel uneasy. You’ll have to stay with me then too, the Bureau doesn’t have any beds.”  
“You could have opened with that, you know? Where else can I-”  
“Okay! Let’s go!” Hunk smiled as he stepped out of the car.  
Lance stumbled toward the entrance, “we can finish this up later, Keith.”  
Keith mumbled a strained agreement, following the other two to the door.

-

After getting past ‘security’ - really it was just a matter of getting them to ignore Keith - the trio headed to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.   
Keith looked at Hunk, “why are we going to the first floor, isn’t this the first floor?”  
“Nah, this is just the entrance level. Technically we’re on the fourth floor right now. That’s why it wasn’t too difficult to get in. Once we reach the basement we’ll have to go through a more extensive security line.”  
“Hunk!” Lance exclaimed, shoving his hands into his hair, “call Allura right now, they aren’t going to let Keith through. Shit! I totally forgot about that.” Lance’s already tired expression creased over with worry as he realized what the second sentry entailed.   
“I’m confused, what does- why is Lance freaking out?” Keith asked Hunk, eyes wide.  
“These guards will know exactly who you are. No getting past them.” Hunk spoke slowly, trying to explain while pulling up Allura’s contact in his phone.   
“One sec- Allura? Yeah, so, we have a special guest for you, but we’re in the elevator down right now and forgot about the other guards…. Yeah… Well, I wouldn’t say that he’s a criminal per se… I know that… He’s not dangerous… Because I spent the whole ride over here with him and Lance and he didn’t try to kill either of us, that’s how I know… You know him, yeah… anyway, can you get the guards to go on break or something so we can get him to your office without getting arrested?... Okay, he could be arrested, but I don’t think I’d call him a crimi-... Pidge would, yes… It’s fiiineee… So you’ll do it?... Awesome, please don’t kill us... Nothing, bye!”   
Hunk let out a giant breath before looking back to the other two with a slightly worried expression.   
With Lance still quietly freaking out, Hunk reported the news of his phone call, “cool! I think we’re good.”  
The elevator doors opened before them, giving way to an empty security point and a rather angry Allura.

When Allura fully understood the capacity of the current situation, her expression dropped so far so quickly it disobeyed laws of physics. As she struggled to formulate a cohesive sentence, Hunk continued to be the speaker.  
“Now, I know what you’re probably thinking-”  
“You said he was not a criminal! Hunk we are inside BOCAFO. I do not understand how you could have ever thought that bringing the Keith Kogane into the Bureau was a reasonable idea.”  
“Yeah, about that, Allura,” Lance chimed in, suddenly overcoming his concern, “it was actually my idea. But you see, I had a good reason! So I met him-”  
“Lance. I need you to understand that you have presented me with a known and wanted criminal. Guilty by association due to ties with Takashi Shirogane, and he has committed petty crimes including theft, trespassing, and reckless driving, just to name a few. Will either one of you please include me in your thought process of bringing him here?”  
“It’s kind of a long story-” Lance began, cutting himself off when he noticed Keith visibly attempting to shove himself into the corner of the elevator.  
“What are you doing?” He asked, completely setting aside what he was about to contribute to the current conversation.   
“Trying to get as far away from this as possible,” Keith mumbled into the wall.   
“Lance, I do not care what drove you to bring this man here. All that matters is that we can call security back and have him arrested.” Allura began to walk back to her office.  
Lance pushed past Hunk to get to Allura, “please, Allura. I promise that we brought him here for a good reason.”  
“Well, actually, Lance brought him here. I was just the driver. He was the one who convinced me.” Hunk informed, looking back at Keith who was still standing in the corner of the elevator.   
“I do not care who decided to bring him, I simply want to know why,” Allura said, continuing to walk away.  
“Please, he doesn’t want to be associated with Shiro. He said that he wished he wasn’t a part of the gang,” Lance pleaded, clasping his hands together.   
Tired of arguing, Allura conceded, “fine, if you care so much, bring him to my office.”  
Following Allura through the halls of the first floor took a while longer than Keith expected.   
“Jeez, how big is this place?” He gaped, looking around himself at the maze of white walls and tile.   
“You’d be surprised, it actually kind of gets ingrained on you after a while,” Lance said, falling into step with Keith.   
Hunk and Allura traipsed ahead, ignoring the two behind them.  
“So, you think she likes me?” Keith grimaced.  
Taking a slow breath, Lance thought. Considering the fact that Keith hid in the elevator when Allura was bagging on him set some sort of… something.   
“Uhh, no, I don’t think she likes you. We can try to fix that though. You just have to be more open. I think you’re shutting yourself in before she can fully understand your story.”  
Keith nodded thoughtfully, his soft black hair floating through the air. Lance knew that he needed to be cautious around Keith, but when he looked this good without trying, it was hard to ignore him.   
“Guys, you coming?” Hunk called from Allura’s office door.   
“Yeah, give us a sec,” Lance responded.   
Keith took a breath, his eyes wandering once more before walking into the room ahead of Lance.  
“Hello, Keith,” a smooth, deep voice greeted from next to Allura.   
“Oh, right, I forgot to mention that Lotor stopped by for a quick visit. I hope you don’t mind Keith.”

Lance clenched his jaw, visibly unhappy with the current situation. He wanted to say so many things to Allura right then but, then again, he worked for her.  
“I guess this is kind of fitting, yes? If you really do intend to leave Shiro, the best person to assess that would be Lotor, hmm?”  
“Allura, if I may, since when do we trust the leader of a gang, here? What’s this guy got on Shiro, anyhow? They’ve both broken laws. If anything, I’d say that V is less dangerous than the Galra. I mean, Shiro did use to have normal ties with you-”  
“Lance! That is enough. We can continue talking later today. For now, get him somewhere other than here. I do expect you to come in for at least part of your shift today.”   
During Allura and Lance’s argument, Hunk stood awkwardly on the other side of the increasingly tiny room.   
“Fine. Keith, come on, we’re going to my place.”

-

“Okay, I understand that I have to stay somewhere, but why does it have to be with you?”  
Keith and Lance sat in the back of an Uber heading to Lance’s apartment.  
“What, are you afraid of me all of a sudden? Are you confused as to how I own my own apartment with no roommates at just seventeen? Or are you just scared that I haven’t mentioned the fact that I don’t go to school right now? Actually, here, I’ll answer those for you,”  
“Lance, come on, I don’t need an explanation,”  
“I have my own place because BOCAFO pays for it, and I don’t go to school because I graduated high school early due to the fact that I received early admission to the Bureau. I didn’t need any extra schooling because of the specific courses I took throughout high school.”  
“I literally didn’t ask,” Keith sighed, tired of Lance always being on defense. “Although, there is one thing that I want to ask you. I’ll save that for when we get to your place, though.” As if to provide reasoning for the location choice, Keith pointed a finger in the direction of the driver, who, actually, was having himself a little chuckle in the driver’s seat.   
“Alright,” Lance responded, tired of talking and just growing more exhausted from not sleeping for a day.

Lance thanked the driver and shuffled inside the entrance, pressing the up button to call an elevator.   
“When was the last time that you were in a bed solely to sleep?” Keith asked, genuinely curious.  
Lance thought for a second, his head growing foggy already, “well, it’s around breakfast time right now, I had a night shift at the Black Door, and I worked a full day at the Bureau yesterday, so I’d say about 24 hours. That means that everything I’ve said or done since around… three? Four AM? Should be disregarded entirely. I mean, at least to an extent. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been a bit all over the place.”  
“Not really, actually. I think you just need a shower and some rest.” Keith replied, getting into the elevator first.   
“Yeah, that sounds nice. When we get inside, make yourself at home. It’s pretty clean. I’ve got some food in the fridge and pantry if you’re hungry, console set up in the living room if you get bored. Oh, and the WiFi password is somewhere on the bulletin board in the kitchen. The layout’s pretty standard.” Lance spoke slowly as if he was telling himself more so than Keith. He pressed the button for ‘3’ and then the one to close the doors.   
“Oh, hey, where will I sleep? Not to throw anything else on you, just so I know.”  
Lance stared blankly at Keith’s face for a second before realizing, “I don’t have a bed for you…”  
Keith’s eyebrows shot up as he thrust his head forward slightly in confusion, “you what? Wait, that’s fine, I’ll just sleep on the couch.”  
“So, the thing is, I said that BOCAFO paid for the apartment, but I have to get my own furniture… yeah, I don’t have a couch.”  
“So, what, a bundle of blankets and a pillow on the floor for the next however long I’m staying with you?”  
Lance stepped out of the excruciatingly slow elevator and started toward his door, “no extra blankets, I do have another pillow, though. See, I was thinking we’d just share the bed.”  
Lance didn’t wait for a reaction, instead keeping a steady pace down the hall.  
“Lance, Lance, will you stop, please?” Keith put a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “have you forgotten about our ages? Isn’t that illegal?”  
“Wouldn’t have stopped you last night, would it?” Lance retorted, continuing on his path, “besides, it’s not like we’re sleeping together in the other sense of the word.”   
Reaching the door, Lance turned his key, pushed the door open, and headed straight for the bathroom without a second thought. Until he wasn’t, and instead walked back to where Keith was standing, stunned, at the door’s threshold.  
“Heads up, Pidge and Hunk live on either side of us. If you want to make a friend - not that they’re home right now - they’re close.”   
And with that, Keith was left, alone, in Lance’s living room. As he said, it was couchless.   
What type of person doesn’t have extra blankets?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo what's Keith gonna do? Am I the only one who can't wait for Lance's birthday??


	8. Nothing's Ever Easy (BONUS)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First bonus chapter out of 3 - A little about Keith's background from his POV. See if you can tell who he's talking to ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, like the summary says, this is a short chapter from Keith's point of view. It clarifies a little bit about his past that I felt was unclear or just left out entirely and should provide some little ties to the actual canon plot!
> 
> Enjoy!

I never understood why my parents left me. Honestly, I barely remember anything about it. One day, it all just fell into place, I guess. My mom was at work and my dad wouldn’t leave the dining room table. 

There was a knock at the door, so I went to get it. It was Shiro - of course, at the time, I didn’t know who he was. He told me that I was going to go live somewhere nicer. Somewhere where I’d get some attention, I think he said. 

Throughout all of this, my dad did one thing. He walked into my room and grabbed a bag. I don’t know how I didn’t notice at the time, but he’d packed all of my things. 

He gave the bag to Shiro and then walked to his room. No “goodbye,” no “I’ll miss you,” nothing. I think that if he’d said anything I probably wouldn’t have tried to run away so much.

Living with Shiro was fine. He took care of me, he got me nicer things - things my family would never have been able to afford. 

Another thing, though, that I didn’t notice. Heh, this one’s actually kinda dumb. As a kid, I didn’t really know much about other states or how to get there, so when Shiro and I got on a plane, I had no idea we’d be leaving Texas- Yeah, I’m from Texas.

I guess moving to Florida wasn’t that big of a deal, but I didn’t know we’d left the state until I was old enough to have chores. Getting the mail for the first time when I was nine - so, a year or so after I moved - kinda forced Shiro to tell me where I was. 

Wish I’d known earlier, actually. Maybe I wouldn’t have tried to get back to my house that was a state and a half west. Not to mention the fact that I only got about halfway down the block before stopping under a tree, falling asleep, and waking up in my room again. 

When I was that age, Shiro was super protective of me. Always trying to help, never yelling at me - even when I broke something or ran away. A lot changed… 

As soon as I got here - sorry I’m jumping around a lot, I’m just saying things as they come to mind - uhh when I got here… I don’t remember what- Oh! So, he started homeschooling me immediately. Nothing intense, honestly it felt kind of like regular school. 

Really, it all started getting bad when I was about 14, 15. Coincidentally, that’s also the age I told Shiro I was gay. I don’t think that had anything to do with it - don’t worry, he didn’t really care about that. I just think he didn’t like that I was growing up - starting to think for my own. If anything telling him my sexuality put the final brick in place, “Keith is growing up,” you know? The whole “he’s making decisions for himself now,” mentality really set in.

Like I said, life started getting a bit more difficult after that. Shiro let me in on his little gang thing. It’s actually quite pitiful- I mean, his motivation? Pah! So laughable, I’m not even joking. I’m not going to say what it is, just so you guys can be so dumbfounded when you realize. I don’t think it matters anyway, right? I mean, as long as you catch the guy. 

Anyway, he sort of just threw me in on plans. Telling me that we “had to hack into this database for information,” or that “kidnapping this person will make us safer,” type of stuff. Really messed with my mind at the time. I was super confused about why we were doing everything until he told me about BOCAFO. Haa, the Bureau Of Criminal Activity and Federal Offenses. Wow, now  _ that  _ was quite the conversation to have with a 15-year-old. 

Honestly, I still don’t quite understand everything that’s going on within V, I think I know more about the Galra than I do about a gang I was in myself. That’s kinda sad, isn’t it?

Wait, you don’t know anything about the Galra? Oh, that’s right, the Bureau is close to them now. I forgot about that.

I remember when the Galra were huge in this town. Then V came in. Shiro told me all about this stuff - I know more about the history than the current plans. 

Let’s see, I think Lotor got his leadership position of it after his parents skipped town about half a year ago. He wasn’t too… he- I don’t think he liked his parents. He never related to them? I don’t know. So, he came to power and started flipping things around. The Galra used to be super dangerous, always breaking into people’s homes, taking things. I think they had an arson period? Maybe they got bored of just breaking and entering. 

Right now, Lotor is really new to his position, so we haven’t gotten a chance to see what he’s all about. 

Oh! And, Shiro used to be good. I know, hard to believe. I’m not sure what happened. But like I said, the first few years I lived with him were really nice. Then, we had an interaction with the Galra, I think he went up with Lotor’s parents alone, then almost instantly, the next day, even, he was different. 

That really brings us up to now, Shiro’s sorta evil, five years passed with almost no change between the two gangs until Lotor’s leadership, and the BOCAFO is a major piece in all of the strife without even meaning to be. 

Yeah, you’d be surprised. You especially play a bigger part in this than you thought. That’s how Shiro knew who you were before you even met- oh, that’s right. You haven’t actually met him yet. Well, watch out. He may know more about you than I think he does if he knew where you worked… 

Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to bring me anything. Mmm, this is really good, what type is it? Green tea? Just normal…? Wow. 

What’s that? About Pidge… phew, I don’t remember much about the Holts. That was one of Shiro’s… how you’d say  _ undisclosed  _ matters. That was something he handled himself. I didn’t know anything, none of our “lackeys” knew anything. I don’t think Slav knew anything either. That was probably because of him being annoying, though, now that I think about it. 

I do, now that I think about it, remember the day  _ Sam  _ was brought in. I know that we had Matt too, but they weren’t together for some reason. Oh! That’s right! Shiro and Matt were friends before, I don’t even know what to call- yeah, sure, before they were apprehended. I think Shiro knew Sam too, not as well as he knew Matt, but I think they worked together? Maybe? But then Shiro went nuts and isolated himself.

Do I what? That’s a good question, actually. I don’t remember the  _ exact  _ reason Shiro adopted me. I do know that it had something to do with the fact that he sympathized with me. I don’t know what there was to sympathize  _ with _ , really- yeah, I’m done, thank you, by the way. 

But yeah, that’s my story. I’ll let you know if I think about anything else, but I think that’s everything that matters… Oh, of course, what is it? Haha, no, I think you’ll have to figure that one out for yourself. I think that if I tell you that it’ll ruin your entire case.


	9. I Could Never Be The Same (BONUS #2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Topic: CASE - The Missing Holts regarding Takashi Shirogane - CASE # 1312019113  
> Employee: Katie Holt - Alias: Pidge Gunderson  
> Employee Number: 1937623191254
> 
> What does Pidge have to say about her family's disappearance? What does she know that others don't - or that they choose to ignore?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter 2/3 - This is a Journal-like chapter. Basically, it's Pidge's case notes.  
> This one's a bit shorter because I felt that the brevity held true to a short entry that Pidge would do just to clarify some things for herself. 
> 
> The redactions that aren't important are just lines of stars, the ones that do matter have strikethroughs so you guys can still read them!

**Employee:** Katie Holt - Alias: Pidge Gunderson

**Employee Number:** 1937623191254

**Age:** 14

**Specialty:** Technology, currently in research

**Position:** Case Researcher

**Entry Type:**  Case Journal

**Topic** : CASE - The Missing Holts regarding Takashi Shirogane - CASE # 131202019113

**Doc. Creation Date:** June 2016

**DOWNGRADED - SOME REDACTION NECESSARY:** Mar. 2018

 

Dad and Matt have been missing for a month now. Working at the Bureau has given me the ability to track down where they might be. I think I’ve narrowed it down to a small upscale neighborhood south of the so-called ‘red light district’ by its inhabitants. May go into that later, but for now, I need to focus on finding my family.

I have raised my concerns with Allura. I think that V took them. 

I don’t think Allura believes me yet, but everything that I’m looking at points to them being with Shirogane. The WiFi level fluctuations in that area alone suggest that whoever  _ is  _ there is doing a lot of research into  _ something _ . 

I have compared the levels there to what we use here at the Bureau which is  **********  gigabytes per month, and although this pales their numbers, it still provides a benchmark for what I consider to be ‘a lot.’ 

Their numbers jumped from  ********  to  ***********  right around the time that dad and Matt went missing. Of course, I observed a slight delay in the increase, but I think I can chalk that up to Shiro kidnapping, transporting, and briefing them. 

I feel like I’m making this sound like it was straightforward, but it took me at least an hour to gather this information. With all the tech we have here at the Bureau, it should have taken  ***********  at the  _ very  _ least.

Anyway, I’m going to head back to researching, anything else I find will be put into an additional document. 

\----

**POSTSCRIPT** BY INITIAL AUTHOR -  **DATED** JUNE 2018 -  **VOICE RECORDING TRANSCRIPT, INITIAL RECORDING ERASED**

My family is back now, but Shiro is still out there. Allura trusts me now, so I am going to do everything I can to make sure this guy gets put behind bars. Lance is helping with our case now, but he’s brought back a member of V. I don’t think Allura is too happy about it, and he could be a spy. I know that most of what I need to say here is going to be redacted for the security of the current case - especially because I’m going to have Allura check this over - but when this gets declassified, it will serve as a look back into how I feel this case is going. 

On a lighter note, my dad has gone back to his old job, I think he found mom, but he hasn’t written yet. Matt works here now, trying to help us find out how to stop Shiro. 

I think we might actually get somewhere, but Lotor keeps… I don’t even know what he’s doing, quite honestly. And Matt is hesitant with his work. He insists that Shiro isn’t evil, he keeps trying to tell me that  ~~ Shiro kept breaking his ‘character’ ~~ and that  ~~ he often saw Shiro battling with himself ~~ . I don’t know if I should believe Matt, but he is my brother. I’m not sure if he’d lie about this. He and Shiro were friends before all of this happened. One day, Shiro just lost it.

I remember most of what happened from stories Matt told. Shiro was telling [Allura, Matt] one day that he adopted a child. He didn’t say much about why, but Matt was cool with it after Shiro explained that the kid wasn’t living right. Allura, on the other hand, kind of went… I don’t know how Matt worded it. From what I understand, she  ~~ wasn’t happy ~~ with it. Matt said that Shiro had had the kid for a few years when he told them. I think Shiro was  ~~ upset ~~ by Allura’s reaction, he asked Matt to leave the room. Obviously, Matt doesn’t know what happened next, but he says that Allura seemed  ~~ kind of crushed ~~ for the next week. 

I’ve tried to bring it up with Allura, but she says it’s not important. I keep trying to tell her that this could be  ~~ a key detail in understanding Shiro’s motives ~~ , but she refuses to act on anything. I’m starting to believe that  ~~ Shiro has ties to Allura that make it difficult for her to do her job ~~ .  ~~ Maybe a past/ current relationship ~~ ? 

If that’s the case, I don’t understand how Allura can simultaneously go after Shiro with everything she’s got only to ignore crucial factors like  ~~ any previous engagements with each other ~~ . I know that something changed in Shiro between then and now, but the only way I’ll be able to understand any of it is if I talk to Keith. He came directly from V and as little as I’d like to admit it, he’ll be helpful. Branching off of that,  ~~ he might also be the child that Shiro took in ~~ .

Wait. Wait, wait, wait, Shiro would have had to be… 18? I know that Matt and Allura have been friends with him that long, but doesn’t that mean  that ~~V has existed for a decade~~ …?


	10. What Needs To Be Said (BONUS #3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk's take on all the mess that's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And! This brings us to the very last bonus chapter for a little while. I will be deleting the update chapter I posted that notified all you lovely readers about the schedule. I apologize if any of the content in these past three additions has been repetitive, I just see all of the information flying around the Bureau and each person retelling it how they see/ received it.   
> I would like to say, thank you all for reading, and, as usual, let me know in the comments if there's anything you'd like me to include!   
> See you next week :)

Voice Log #03 - Hunk Garrett, 11:43 AM

 

Hey, uhh… the topic of this log is going to be about Lance, really. I dunno, I’m just kinda worried about him. I mean, he’s letting this guy - who he doesn’t know, mind you - live with him for a while. How long is a while? Why does Lance trust him? 

Man, why did I have to drive them? Now Allura thinks I know all about what’s going on between them. I don’t! Honestly! Gah… I should really be baking some cookies right now. Y’know, I bake when I’m stressed? Yeah, I guess you could say that  _ I’m stressed _ . 

Okay, worries aside, here’s what I know so far:

Keith is- or was? A part of V, Lance met(?) him at the Black Door, Allura doesn’t trust Keith, she’s talking a lot more with Lotor. 

Yeah, not much. Anyway, I just- like I said, I’m worried about Lance. He really freaked out back there in the elevator. He doesn’t normally do stuff like that. It’s usually, “whatever, security, pfff, I’m Lance ‘Sharpshooter’ McClain, I don’t need to worry about anything! C’mon, Hunk! Let’s go catch come criminals without any backup because we’re invincible!” 

Obviously, this in itself is worrying, but the fact that he’s  _ not  _ doing that… I don’t know what to think. 

 

Okay, well, I have to go to lunch with Pidge - something about Keith and Shiro, it sounded important. I’ll resume this later.

 

*Pause Recording - 1min 16sec*

 

*Log Resumed - 2:26 PM*

 

Hooookay, I don’t believe this. Pidge says that she thinks… there’s just so much. 

Apparently, Matt was friends with Shiro before he went nuts,  _ she  _ hasn’t figured out why he went crazy, but Lance left me a voicemail while I was eating. 

He… he says that Keith knows why. This is insane, it’s like he and Pidge have two sides of the same story, they fit so well together. 

One thing Pidge said that I don’t understand, V has been around for a decade? I’m not sure how that’s possible given Shiro’s age. I mean, Allura knew about that, obviously. 

Was there another leader at the time that we don’t know about? I highly doubt that an eighteen-year-old was running around the city with a group of people his age or older causing so much havoc. 

Was he apart of something bigger? This might be nuts, but could he have direct ties with the Galra without anyone knowing it? 

Is that what Keith thought the beginning of V was? When, in fact, it was really just an alliance between Shiro and the Galra? Oh, quiznak, I need to stop thinking like this.

Lance told me all of this stuff that Keith and he talked about when they had time to properly talk with each other. After they got home, I guess? Lance wasn’t too clear about that. But, he says that Keith knows a lot more than he’s letting on. Something makes me think that Matt knows the part that Keith won’t tell Lance, though.

From what Pidge says, Keith and Matt’s stories line up almost to a tee. Due to the statistical and- just, y’know the improbability of this  _ actually  _ happening, I can’t help but  _ want  _ to believe them. 

Aside from that mess, I’m seeing a lot more of Lotor, lately. I think he’s trying to make up for things that his parents did before he rose to power… ugh, I should really talk to Matt about some of this. I know practically nothing compared to him.

Actually, yeah. Hold on, I’m going to pause the recording to go-

 

*Pause Recording - 1min 40sec*

 

*Log Resumed - 2:51 PM*

 

Alright, one nice little chat with Matt later and I’m no closer to understanding any of this. He  _ refuses  _ to verify anything that Pidge told me. Denies it, even. 

I can’t understand why he won’t tell me anything. He works for BOCAFO, is he trying to throw the case?

I get that he used to be friends with Shiro, but that’s no reason to keep something like this from the people trying to… huh, the people trying to put him  _ behind bars.  _

Okay, I guess I understand now. But still, considering everything… I’m not sure if I can trust Matt anymore.  

I think that’s fair to say at this point. I don’t think some people on the team would particularly agree, but then again, if it weren’t for that person, we wouldn’t have a key witness to the vast majority of Shiro’s crimes. 

Sorry, buddy, I know you’ll be listening to this later, but like I said earlier… 

Well, I’m going to keep asking around for some pieces I’m missing. I still need to talk to Allura, I have to understand our sudden acceptance of Lotor despite everything he’s done prior to this very moment. 

To close, I think that Pidge is going to be an important ally in this case. People to look out for: Keith and Lance, Matt, and as much as I hate it, Allura herself.

Haahh, end recording.

 

*Recording Ended, 3min 48sec*


	11. Walk Away From This Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Keith's stay with Lance. How do they work out the bed situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I know I just said that I'd be back to the normal schedule, but I think I overestimated myself. I don't know why I thought I could get out a chapter with one day of planning, so here it is today instead! Don't worry, this doesn't change anything for next week, it's just a little planning error on my part. I have to say that this was probably the most fun chapter to write so far!!
> 
> I guess there's quite a bit of fighting in this chapter that might be a bit upsetting, but other than that it's mostly fluffy and sweet. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading! Let me know what you think so far!

Keith watched Lance walk back to the bathroom, completely unsure of what to do next. He tried to formulate a small list of ‘to-dos’ for himself but kept getting distracted by the soft humming coming from the shower. 

Finally shaking his fog, Keith walked into the kitchen to scope out his surroundings… and get the wifi password. 

Although the apartment itself was kind of small, the kitchen was well bigger than the living space. Keith hadn’t looked down the hallway to Lance’s bedroom, yet, but he assumed it wasn’t quite this large. 

Continuing on his path, he stood in front of the bulletin board Lance talked about to continue his mission. 

Distantly, a chorus of bangs followed by a string of swear words erupted from the other side of the apartment. Keith couldn’t help but snicker at Lance knocking down all of the soap bottles. He knew that he’d done it himself a few times, but it’s always funnier on the other side. 

Keith scanned over the papers stuck to the cork, reading handouts for Pride Parade - he thought to make a note of that, different events going on at the Bureau, and- oh, there it is. Why would he put it under stuff? 

Anyway, now that he had the password, he might as well search the place, right? 

He pulled open the door to the pantry, checking out what Lance considered to be ‘food.’ Yeah, a whole lot of nothing. Some cereals, that’s good, but mostly just empty box mixes and… crackers? Maybe the fridge was better, Keith walked to it, again, looking inside. After grimacing at both the lack of organization and the smell that came out, he decided to just leave the food alone. Instead, he spotted an apple on the counter and chose to have that. 

Keith heard the water turn off and Lance’s humming grow louder. Keith stood in the kitchen, watching, as Lance emerged in a blue robe and towel hat. 

“Hey, Keith. Find everything okay?” Lance asked, seemingly fine with his outfit at the moment. 

“Uhh, y-yeah! I just saw this apple, nothing else looked edible.” Keith stuttered, walking over to join Lance. He took a breath, not really sure why he was acting that way. 

“Wow, ouch. I guess I should go through some stuff.” Lance began, starting to walk back to his room. “I just haven’t been home much, lately- Keith?” He stopped, realizing that Keith stopped following him at the door. “Dude, come here. I don’t bite-  _ well that’s kind of a lie…”  _ Lance drifted off, murmuring to himself as he thought of times where that reassurance wasn’t true. 

“Okay, Lance, not helping. Just- tell me how many pillows you have.” Keith slowly walked into the room, crossing his arms and keeping his distance from the other man. 

“Keith, honestly, you’re making this such a big deal I don’t see why it should be-”

“Lance, pillows.”

Lance sighed before walking over to his closet and pulling down two extra pillows, “so, I have these two, and then the three on my bed.”

Exasperated, Keith puffed at the ceiling, “I still don’t understand how a person doesn’t have extra blankets, but somehow has  _ five  _ pillows. Why?” He held out his hands, honestly wanting an answer. 

“Look, I’m tired, I’m sure  _ you’re  _ tired, let’s just go to bed, we can talk about this in a few hours.”

“You know that you have to go back into work today, right?”

Lance thought, “yeah, but I still want to nap before then. Hey- do what you want, I just know that you’ve been up all night too. 

“Get in the bed,” Keith grumbled, hugging three of the pillows.

Lance couldn’t say no to that, happy to finally be able to sleep. He had just started to drift off when he felt Keith pushing his back, “Hey! What’re you-”

All Keith did in response was hold out a hand before going back to work at making a wall of pillows between them.

“Oh my God. Are you- You can’t be serious. Keith, we have made out and  _ this  _ is what you’re doing? We both know that this is not going to stay there the whole night,” Lance laughed, staring at the ridiculous attempt. 

All Keith did to acknowledge that he heard Lance was grumble before he got into bed, making sure the pillow wall stayed put. 

“I promise you, I have tried that during sleepovers before and it never works. We are going to wake up so cl-”

“ _ Lance. _ ”

“Seriously, I don’t see why you care so much about this, why don’t we just go to sleep and  _ not  _ make this weird by building a pillow wall between-”

“ _ Lance.”  _

“Like, right now, I feel like West Berlin, you know? And you’re the Soviet Union? Or would it be the other way around… no, I think that’s right because you’re building the wall?”

“Lance! Just leave it! If you care so much then just ignore it. Go to sleep!” Keith all-but-yelled, slamming the lightswitch and blanketing the room in darkness aside from the light that managed to seep through the curtains. 

“Sleep tight to you, too,” Lance mumbled, closing his eyes.

 

\--

 

A few hours into napping, the horrible sound of Lance’s alarm woke the sleeping pair. Lance was the first to open his eyes, quickly noticing the positions the two of them were in. Needless to say, Keith’s pillow wall did not hold and he was now tangled with Lance. 

Deciding to ignore it, enjoying the comfort of sleeping with another person, Lance closed his eyes briefly, only to be shaken from his private bliss by a less-than-charming groan from Keith. 

Lance stole another look at the man below him. Lance was on his back, his legs intertwined with Keith’s. Keith’s head rested on Lance's chest, his ear placed on Lance’s heart. Taking a deep breath in, Lance accidentally caught the scent of Keith’s hair due to being so close. 

Only then did Keith start to rise, pushing off of the bed by putting handholds on either side of Lance’s abdomen. He glared down groggily, slowly realizing that he was no longer in the comfort of East Berlin if you know what I mean. 

“Why are you below me?” Keith grumbled, no making plans to move any time soon. 

“Why are you above me?” Lance replied, sheepishly smiling at him. 

“So,” Keith sniffed, studying Lance’s face, “which one of us is Gorbachev?” 

Lance’s jaw dropped slightly, “you know history,”

“Lance, I went to high school. I’m pretty sure everyone knows about the Berlin Wall…” Keith brushed off the statement, instead choosing to sink back down onto the bed, returning his head to Lance’s chest.

“So where did Keith from last night go?” Lance asked, absentmindedly beginning to play with strands of Keith’s hair.

Keith sighed, obviously thinking. After a few moments of pause, he shrugged, “sometimes I just- nevermind,” he rose again, this time shifting over to the other side of the bed.

Lance protested the cold as Keith's warmth seeped away from him.

“I’m going to take a shower, then we can talk… _ I guess _ .”

Lance watched him leave for the bathroom, still wishing for the company.

Instead of wallowing in the loss of comfort, Lance decided to get dressed and begin to make lunch plans. He knew that his stomach was rumbling, which meant that Keith’s probably was too.

Walking to the kitchen, Lance remembered that he told Keith how little he’d been in the house for the past few days. He presumed that there wouldn’t be enough in his pantry to scrape together lunch for two. Instead, he pulled the pizza flyer from his bulletin board and punched the number into his phone. 

“Hey, Keith?” Lance called, almost forgetting that he might want something different. 

Lance always got the same thing: A specialty white pizza with ham, pulled pork, lime, and two kinds of cheese. While he thought it was fantastic, others around him tended to…  _ disagree.  _ As Pidge put it, “dude, this pizza is so gross that I wouldn’t even find it on a trash planet if I looked  _ hard _ .”

Or as Hunk told him, “Lance, I have to tell you, you know I’m the food guy, right? And I’ll eat pretty much anything? Well, okay, this actually isn’t that bad, but it definitely isn’t  _ great _ , right? I do kind of like it though…”

Oh, what about what Allura thought, “Lance, I- why? I think if I showed this to director Coran he’d have a fit!”

Anyway, Lance wanted to know what Keith wanted. He didn’t really want to deal with people telling him that the things he liked were gross. It makes him feel bad…

“Keeeiiith!” Lance tried again. No response. 

Maybe he was too far away? He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door, “Keith?” 

Only the sound of water responded. He wasn’t making a sound, no bottles, no humming, nothing. 

Lance opened the door slightly, hoping that not having a barrier would make him louder.

“Hey, Keith? Buddy, I’m getting pizza…” 

Seriously, why isn’t this dude responding? 

He physically walked inside and knocked on the wall beside the shower curtain, “Keith!” 

“Lance! What are you doing out there?!” Keith finally yelled back, another chorus of falling bottles sounding behind his question.

“Hey, man, I’m just trying to get your pizza preference. You’re the one who wasn’t saying anything,” Lance held his hands up defensively before remembering that Keith couldn’t see him. 

“I- Meat Lovers, I guess? Can you just, leave, please? Kinda… naked back here.”

“I swear, you just keep forgetting about last night! Oh! And just a little bit ago when we were cuddling? I think you need to get your memory checked.”

“LANCE.”

“Oh damn. Okay, act like that when I  _ actually  _ have pizza, why don’t you?” Lance loudly shut the door behind him, appreciating the shift in humidity as he exited into the cooler living space. 

Lance opted to sit on his bed while on the phone. Despite the nap, he was still feeling a bit exhausted. Guess you can’t make up for a day’s lost sleep with a two-hour nap. 

“Hey, I’d like to place an order for delivery?” 

 

\--

 

“Okay, sir, enjoy your food!” The delivery man left quickly after handing Lance his two boxes of pizza. He set them down on the kitchen counter, looking back to the bathroom to see if Keith had come out yet. Nope.

Opening both boxes, he carefully examined the pizza craftsmanship. Sometimes it’s hit or miss with his because it’s so unusual. Both looked fine in any case. 

“Keith! Pizza’s here!” Lance called, feeling too lazy to actually go knock. 

He grabbed a plate, heaped on a few slices, and plopped himself onto the kitchen floor. Sometimes it was nice to eat on the floor, chairs grow tiring after a while. 

Lance heard the bathroom door open, a heavily sighing Keith walk out of the room, and then what seemed to be a complete stop. He was confused for a second before realizing that  _ he was on the floor.  _ Keith obviously couldn’t see him. Should he scare him? Play it cool? Or…?

Lance slowly crawled around the kitchen island, keeping himself hidden, but getting a good viewpoint on Keith. 

“...Lance? Where’d you go?” Keith walked into the kitchen, eyeing the pizza on the counter. 

Lance quickly ran around the island so he was behind Keith, making sure that he still couldn’t be seen. 

“Lance? Why is your food on the floor? Lance!” Keith bent over and grabbed the plate, placing it back on the counter. 

Lance crept forward...  

“Lance!” Keith turned around slowly, running right into a comfortable embrace on Lance’s part. 

“Man, I wish you’d say my name louder…” Lance whispered, clasping his hands around Keith’s neck.

Keith shied away from Lances grasp, instead, getting a plate for his food, "thanks for the pizza."

“Aw, C'mon! You’ve gotta lighten up! You’d better be glad I don’t have any lamps in here or else you might have just gotten hit by one.” 

“Lance, you don’t understand, I can’t just- please, just stop doing that. Let me eat.”

“Okay, but  _ then  _ can we-”

“Please… please just stop.”

“But you were so cuddly this morning! I thought we were getting somewhere!”

“The only reason that happened is that by some fucking miracle you don’t own a goddamn couch or any… any fucking blankets! Lance! That was all it was! I don’t understand why you can’t just leave it at that and  _ let me be _ !”

The silence in the air hurt to sit in. 

“Is this about something I did?” Lance asked, slightly pushing his plate away. 

“God- no! This isn’t about you,” Keith lowered his gaze, a storm brewing somewhere in his eyes.

“Hey,” Lance walked up to Keith, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, “you can talk to me.”

A few seconds passed, “please… shouldn’t you be going back to work?” 

“If I go, you come with me. I’m not going to leave you here like this, plus, we still need to know more about your time with Shiro.”

Keith winced slightly, looking up at Lance, “then I guess we stay here.”


End file.
